Wardrobe-trunk



N.y GULDSMHH.

WARDROBE TRU-NK. APPLICATIQN FILED SEPT. f1. :919.

1,373, 189. Patented Mar. 29, `1921.

A TTUHNEVS UNITED STATES NATHAN" GOL'DSMITH, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

WARDROBE-TRUNK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 29, 1921'.

Application filed September 11, 1919. Serial No. 323,175.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, NATI-IAN GoLDsMrrI-I, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have :invented certain new and useful Improvements in l/Vardrobe- Trunks, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the invention is to incorporate in a wardrobe trunk a device upon which garments can be hung or supported in such a way as to relieve the trunk from the strains which such garment supports in eX- isting structures impose `upon the body of the trunk structure.

1Wardrobe trunks are well known :in the art and consist, generally speaking, of two hinged trunk sections one part of which is adapted to contain drawers while the other part is provided with a swinging gate carrying arms adapted for the reception o f 1ndividual garment hangers. In the ordinary construction of such trunks, the gate is pivoted at the upper part of the open portion of the trunk. Inasmuch as the weight of the garments is considerable, this method of construction tends to distort and warp the trunk structure or to distort the structure of the gate itself. These disadvantageous features haveV been well understood for a long time but no suitable remedy therefor has as yet been found. It is the purpose of my invention to so mount the gate structure in the trunk that the said disadvanw tages will be obviated and a strong, durable and mechanically sound construction will be produced.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is a perspective View of an open wardrobe trunk embodying my improvements; Fig. 2 is' a front view of the righthand side of the wardrobe trunk shown in; Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a side view of the structure `illustrated in Fig. 2; Fig. 4L is a top view thereof and Fig. 5 is an enlarged detailedview of the outer post.

In the drawings A represents the drawer portion of the trunk and B the garment hanger part thereof. These two trunk parts are hinged together at C in the usual manner. Near the front inner edge of the part B is fastened a rod D about which as an axis the gate portion of the garment support is adapted to swing. The gate itself consists of two vertical tubular posts E and F connected by cross bars G, H, I and J, of

which I and J, serve to render the structure rigid and to compress the garments within the trunk section B so that with the single motion involved in closing the gate the garments are properly packed. The braces G and H carry the brackets K, L, which serve to provide the usual two points suspension for garment hangers. The forward end of brackets K and L may be conveniently provided with the members K and L pivoted respectively to K and L and adapted, when the trunk is open, to be swung outwardly, as shown in Fig. 4, toform an elongation of the brackets K and L to permit the garments to be spread apart on the brackets when the trunk is open. Through the tube F runs the rod M, provided at the top and bottoni with knobs N, the rod M being freely movable in the tube F. The dimension of the lower knob N is suoli that it willy just occupy the space between the lower part of the tube F and the inner bottomsurface of the trunk with a slight freedom of motion to enable the knob to seat or unseatitself with respect to the cup shaped member S. At the upper part of the rod M it is provided with a projection O which is adapted to enter the bayonet slot P at the upper part of the tube F and .to act as a catch for the rod M when the same is rotated after reaching its lowermost position. The rod F is provided with a suitable catch Q adapted to cooperate with a corresponding part R on the hinged wall of the trunk section B.

The operation of the device is as follows: When the trunk is open the parts will be in the position shown in Fig. l, the rod M rest ing by means of its lower knob N upon the bottom of the trunk section B. The upper part of the rod M in this position is such that the projection O is not in the bayonet slot I), so that the entire gate may be swung outwardly on the rod D. The position of the rod M with respect to the tube F will not be changed until the upper knob N of the rod M is rotated to permit the projection (l to pass through the slot P and to lock the rod M in its lowermost position. Thus as the gate of Fig. l is swung outwardly into the dotted line position, there will be no interference to free action in this respect by reason of any contact between the lower knob N and the floor during the act of swinging. When, however, the gate has reached the desired position, the upper knob N is rotated as described, so that the lower knob N will then come into contact with the floor and remain in contact therewith and thus in the dotted line position of F ig. l will serve as a positive support for the gate. It will readily be observed that the strength and rigidity of the gate structure is such that it will allow for the increased leverage created by the use of the extensions K and L of the brackets K and L. It will also be apparent that in the structure described the structure of the gate itself is such that distortion is almost impossible. Furthermore, the strains do not fall upon the structure of the trunk itself. The gate structure as employed by me is oi greatly increased strength and at the same time, by reason of the manner in which Vit is incorporated in the trunk, leaves the trunk itself a vastly stronger structure than where the gate is embodied therein in the manner which was formerly customary. When the gate is to be returned from the dotted to the full line position of Fig. l, the upper knob N is rotated until the pin O is withdrawn `trom the slot P and in that position the gate is again free from contact with the floor and may, consequently, be readily swung back into the trunk section P.

My grate structure lends itself to cheap and economical manufacture as tubes oii relatively light weight `can be used throughout the gate structure and such tubes, if suitably enameled, add greatly t'o the neat appearance of the trunk as a whole and many modifications may obviously be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

A wardrobe trunk comprising two sections lciinged' together, garmentsupporting lrame in one ol said sections comprlsing` a pivot post pivotally mounted between the ends of said section, a tubular outer post having a slot terminating in an upper open end at the upper end of said outer post and continued at its lower end as a transverse recess, cross-braces connecting said two posts, a rod extending lengthwise of said tubular post and beyond the opposite ends thereof, said rod being vertically slidable in said post and rotatable therein, a supporting` device at the lower exposed end of said rod, a knob at the upper exposed end of said rod whereby the manipulation ot said rod in said tube is facilitated and a pin on said rod arranged to be moved out of said slot and over the upper end of said tubular post to raise said rod and lock it in a retracted position and to bring said device against the lower end of said tubular post for engagement with an end wall of the trunk section whereby said trame is positively supported when swung into said section, said pin being movable lengthwise of said slot into said recess to shitt said rod to an extended posi tion and to positively locl: it therein and to bring said device into engagement with the floor whereby said frame is positively supported when swung out of said trunk section.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

NATHAN GOLDSMITH. 

